Zenna Vortex: Black Dreams, Scarlet Seas
by LA Knight
Summary: A dead woman, a live woman, & a seashell wash upon the beach, followed by a wave of death. Reid finds Ariel Finn bleeding to death & the BAU is sucked into the most violent case they've had. Ariel holds the key. Revamped "Sirens."
1. Chapter 0 Ocean's Offerings

**Criminal Minds **

**Sirens **

**Prologue: Ocean's Offerings **

Three things washed up on the shore of the Virginia Beach on the night of the Spring Equinox, March 21st, 2009. One of them, was a dead body. A woman, her hair tangled up with kelp and seaweed, her fingers and toes nibbled on by fish, hundreds of slashes and cuts no longer sluggishly bleeding from the bloated, drowned flesh. Her face was missing.

The second thing was a huge shard of seas shell, wet with blood, dripping with it, the blood soaking the sand. It gave off an eerie sound, a singing, like a shepherd's pipe.

And the third was a living body, a girl, maybe twenty years old. Her auburn hair was soaking wet, covering her pale face. She shuddered, shivering with the cold wind on her naked body, lying half in, half out of the water. Her fingers dug long furrows in the wet sand as she tried to pull herself out of the water, crying out in pain. A slash wound to her shoulder and a stab wound to her back leaked blood across her bare skin. Lifting her head, her shimmering green eyes searched the beach. She knew she couldn't make it far enough away from the shell and the corpse on her own. She was losing too much blood to be able to make it very far….

Her eyes saw a shadow, a silhouette against the setting sun, tall, slender. A man… she reached out, trying to sense him, trying to sense safety, kindness, compassion. It was all there, all of it, just within reach if she could get his attention.

"H-help…." Her voice croaked out. "Help…."

The silhouette wasn't even looking at her, was too far away to hear her plea. She had to scream… but her throat burned, ached. She tried to gather saliva into her mouth, couldn't manage it.

Steeling herself, she sucked in as great a lungful of air as she could manage, grabbed a shard of sea shell and clenched it in her fist. Blood gushed out, seeping through her fingers, and the pain gave her the edge she needed to scream.

As the last of her strength gave out, someone lifted her up into their arms.

"Oh, my God! Miss… Miss, can you hear me? Miss, please, can you hear me?"

She stared up into a face like an angel's, with warm eyes like dark amber and soft, dark gold hair flipping into one eye. He had a very open face, and glasses.

"Miss! Miss, can you hear me?"

"Y-yes..."

"I'm going to call nine-one-one." The man shifted her weight in his arms, pulled out a cell phone, dialed, and said, "Hello. I'm at Pearl Pier at Virginia Beach, I have an injured Caucasian female, around twenty years old, multiple knife wounds, suffering from exposure and blood loss. She is conscious, but she seems to be having trouble speaking. Ten minutes? All right, thank you. Yes, I'll be here."

"Thank… you…."

"Hey, hey, stay with me, Miss. What's your name? _What's_ _your_ _name_?"

"Ariel. My… name is… Ariel Finn."

"Ariel? Ariel, my name is Spencer Reid. I'm going to take care of you. You're going to be all right."

"Watch out…." Her throat burned every time she spoke. She grabbed his shirt sleeve with her bleeding hand, drenching the white cloth. It was so white against the blackness of oncoming night.

"Watch out?"

Ariel bit her tongue, tried again. She had to warn this man. He had to get her away, both of them away….

"Take me… away. Take me to the pier…."

"You can't be moved, Ariel-"

"We have to… please… please… Spencer…." And blackness overcame her, sucking her down like the inescapable undertow, a silent wail of despair echoing in her mind.

-----------------------------------------

Yes, I know! A new one! And I haven't finished the old one. Can't help myself. Totally different track, though. Not scary evil demons this time. Wahoo. So, what do you guys think? This idea bit me on the ankle and wouldn't let go. Bad doggie.

In the words of JunoMagic:

**Please feel free to leave a comment!**

_Anything at all:_ If you noticed a typo, if you don't like a characterization or description, if you thought a line especially funny or poignant or interesting, if there was anything you particularly enjoyed … I am really interested in what my readers think about my writing.

You can leave a public comment (signed or anonymous), though if you want me to respond to it, signed is best, OR send me a private message, though I do prefer comments and reviews.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Disclaimer/Author's Note: I don't own anything except what you don't recognize. Ariel is mine, however.


	2. Chapter 1 The Sea Screams

**Chapter One **

**The Sea Screams **

"So, let me get this straight," Agent Hotchner tried not to show just how incredulous he was. How could anyone with any remnant of sanity let something like this go on for this long? "Every week for the last two and a half months, a dead woman has been washing up on the Yemaya City portion of Virginia Beach. That's ten women, am I right? Ten women? And you're calling us in _now_?!"

"Actually, one of your agents stumbled onto our crime scene. He found a victim who was still alive. She's not from our state, so that made it federal. I didn't want the bitch to sue me if your guy ever told her that." The blue eyed, ruddy faced little officer, no more than five-six and twice as jiggly-wiggly as double-F sized breast implants, smirked like he'd said something clever.

Hotch decided right then that if this guy got shot in the line of duty, as long as it didn't interfere with solving the case, he didn't really give a damn. He didn't say that, though. He only said, "Detective Kritikos, where is this woman?"

"Saint Peter's Hospital. The agent with her, Agent Reid, has to give his statement." The fat man sounded like a petulant toddler. He smoothed back his thinning, ginger hair and tried not to look nervous.

"I'm sure that's no trouble. Seeing as this is an FBI investigation, I'm going to need access to all your case files…."

Detective Kritikos didn't look too happy about that, but there wasn't much he could say.

**oo8oo8oo8oo**

Ariel floats in darkness, darker than the deepest places of the Deepness of the Sea, but she cannot escape pain, cannot escape premonition, cannot escape purpose. Her hand, the hand clutching the jagged seashell to give her a screaming edge, burns like the scalding water that gushed from the steam vents beneath the surface of the ocean in the deepest places. Her body aches and throbs, as if a riptide had thrown her to the mercy of the sea shore's rocky fists. Even her hair, long and still dripping wet and tangled, hurts at the memory of that beating… and the memory from before.

_Screaming as the tender soft flesh was scalded and burned until it blistered, fat white blisters that burst and left her crippled, and the woman, that _woman_, laughing as she hissed, "Find your prince now, little guppy. Walk on land now. That's what feet are for aren't they? To walk?" As she says this, she twists something near Ariel's ear, something in her hair but not her hair, something that burns her mind until she thinks everything is screaming. Then the woman lets it go, this thing that hurts her, and Ariel can breathe again. "You'll never be able to walk on land with feet like these."_

_"But," whimpers Ariel in her pain, "I've always had feet like these and I've always walked on land. Why are you doing this?" _

_"Because I hate mermaids," the woman whispered, voice cutting across the girl's ears like a Moray eel snapping with its teeth. "I hate them all." _

_"But I'm not a mermaid," she begs the woman to believe her, "I'm human… I'm human…." And the burning begins again, this time in her arm, like someone is thrusting a needle a big as a knife into the soft part of her arm, and she wakes up…. _

In a white hell, where masked demons rake at her shivering, aching form with needle-claws, and the golden haired angel who had called aid to her was nowhere to be found.

She opens her mouth, drew a lungful of biting cold air, and screams as if she will die.

**oo8oo8oo8oo**

"Tell us again what you were doing on the beach, Dr. Reid."

Reid scrubbed at his face, barely able to stay on his feet as he looked at the tall, trim, brown officer, with the mud brown hair and mud brown eyes. The only reason Reid was even still there was so he could be there when Ariel woke up. He wanted her to see a familiar face, the poor girl, she'd be terrified when she woke up.

"Dr. Reid?"

He told them about the case he and the team were working on, and how he'd gone to the beach to think because a piece was missing from the puzzle, a piece that was there but couldn't be seen, and then he'd heard that horrible scream, the girl, Ariel, screaming on the beach, naked and bleeding and unable to move, barely able to speak.

"And you immediately called 911?" The officer asked skeptically. He looked at Reid as if he didn't believe the young doctor had the wit to follow procedures.

"What did you expect me to do? Cop a few feels while she bled out on the sand? Come on, man."

The detective's eyes hardened into daggers of jagged sharp, frozen mud. "Well, Dr. Reid, forgive me, but we have your record in our file- the FBI sent it to us when we found out you were an agent involved with a non-federal case as a civilian- and we know about your drug addiction, your erratic behavior patterns, the traumas you've suffered at the hands of some of your case suspects, your mother's schizophrenia-"

"What does any of that have to do with Ariel?"

"Ariel? You two are on a first name basis?" The office asked with mock surprise. "I was under the impression you'd never met before."

"We haven't, but-"

"But what, Dr. Reid?"

"Excuse me," and Hotchner walked through the door. "I could ask why you're badgering my agent, but we'll skip that conversation if you promise to make nice and leave him alone." The FBI agent glanced at Reid's somewhat confused, annoyed face, then said, "By the way, the Yemaya-Virginia Beach case is now officially FBI jurisdiction, so I suggest you get your ass out of here before I lose my temper and start forgetting why I didn't report you and your partner, Detective Kritikos, to your superiors, Detective Vrough."

"You can't-"

A scream, faint and terrified, echoed off the walls, stabbing at Reid's heart, silencing the other two men. A nurse rushed headlong into the room, gasping for breath as she cried, "Patient in… room 263… screaming… Doctor Del Gato… wants… Doctor Reid…."

Hotch turned to give permission, and the young genius was already sweeping past him and sprinting down the hall.

**oo8oo8oo8oo**

The woman, eyes glittering like frosted spring violets- the kind that were actually purple, not blue, like in that stupid rhyme for human brats- watched eagerly through the eyes of a nightingale perched upon the hospital room window sill as the girl- that irritating girl, with the hair like spun garnets beneath summer sea waters- thrashed and screamed and wept like a rabid thing every time anyone came near her, and inside the body of the tiny songbird, her thin lips curved into a smile that, when a small Monarch Butterfly happened to glimpse it with its beautiful compound eyes, stopped the poor thing's tiny heart in its chest and shredded its wings in an eye blink.

_Soon, girl,_ she hissed. _You're just the bait. I want all of them dead, and you'll be the one to bring it all about. I'll return to your nightmares again very soon, Ariel Finn._

**oo8oo8oo8oo**

In the words of JunoMagic:

**Please feel free to leave a comment!**

_Anything at all:_ If you noticed a typo, if you don't like a characterization or description, if you thought a line especially funny or poignant or interesting, if there was anything you particularly enjoyed … I am really interested in what my readers think about my writing.

You can leave a public comment (signed or anonymous), though if you want me to respond to it, signed is best, OR send me a private message, though I do prefer comments and reviews.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Disclaimers: I do not own the Lord of the Rings; I do not own blah-blah-blah. Said it in chapter one.


	3. Chapter 2 The Guns of Angels

**Chapter Two **

**The Guns of Angels**

A fiery spike drove into Ariel's arm, and she screamed, screamed in pain. Her heart slammed against her ribs, trying to gnaw its way out of her chest. Her blood burned in her veins as the spike in her oozed toxic agony into her body. Screaming, everything dark as midnight seas on a moonless night around her, she thrashed and twisted and writhed, trying to get away from that agonizing spike of pain.

"Hold her down! Hold her down!"

No, no, no!

She realized she'd been squeezing her eyes tight shut. As soon as she did, they flew open, and white light shot needles into her eyes and brain. She shut her eyes against that hideous light, screaming and crying, great whooping sobs that tore at her throat. Someone jerked on her hair, and another spike of pain stabbed into the soft side of her pale throat.

Where was the man?! The man who had saved her, who'd called help to her, where was he? Where was Spencer?!

She felt rough hands on her body, clammy and cold and rubbery like a dolphin's skin but not so pleasant, and she screamed her one-time rescuer's name, screamed it aloud and in her mind over and over again, praying that he would come and save her this time, too.

**oo8oo8oo8oo8oo8oo8oo8oo **

Reid bolted down the hallway, following that terrified scream. That frightened wailing bounced off the corridor walls and slammed into him like a tsunami, pounding into his heart until it ached. As he neared Ariel's room, the scream sharpened into one word, a name, shrieked out over and over again: _Spencer!_

He slammed into the door and through it, saw the nurses all crowded around the lonely bed with the screaming, thrashing woman beneath their brutal and violating hands, and without a conscious thought as to what he was doing, he bellowed at the top of his lungs, "_Leave her alone!!_"

The doctor- Reid assumed he was the doctor- snapped angrily, "This woman needs to be sedated, she's a danger to herself, now who the hell are you?"

Something slid through Reid's brain, rippling behind his eyes. Everything slowed, as if the whole world were underwater, and Reid watched it all through the lens of a fishtank. Like a striking eel, he drew his gun and aimed it directly at the man's heart.

"I'm Special Agent Spencer Reid. Back away from her, now."

Everyone froze when he pulled the gun, and then slowly did as he said. He walked slowly, sideways, towards the girl who now lay curled up in a ball, whimpering and weeping, rocking back and forth, his eyes always on the medical staff.

"I want everyone out of this room, now."

No one moved.

"I said NOW!!!"

Before the last echo of his furious shout had faded from the sound trap of the tiled ceiling, walls, and floor, the room was empty. Reid set his gun down carefully on the bedside stand, seated himself beside Ariel on the bed.

Tears streamed down her face, but when Reid reached out a hand to touch her arm, she grabbed his wrist and pressed it to her chest. He could feel the watery thud of her heart against the pulse in his wrist.

"Ariel?"

She drew a shuddering breath, and wept into his wristwatch.

"Ariel, I promise you… I promise nothing is going to happen to you. I'm going to protect you, all right? I promise you."

She opened her mouth as if to speak, and something sharp and stinging hit Reid in the neck right before his brain registered the sound of breaking glass. He reached up even as he began to lose his balance, and pulled a tiny silver dart out of his neck. He looked up into the faces of Gideon, Morgan, and Hotchner before everything swirled and shimmered before his eyes and he fell to the ground.

The last thing he heard before blackness came was Ariel screaming his name again.

_**oo8oo8oo8oo** _

_In the words of JunoMagic:_

**_Please feel free to leave a comment!_**

_Anything at all: If you noticed a typo, if you don't like a characterization or description, if you thought a line especially funny or poignant or interesting, if there was anything you particularly enjoyed … I am really interested in what my readers think about my writing._

_You can leave a public comment (signed or anonymous), though if you want me to respond to it, signed is best, OR send me a private message, though I do prefer comments and reviews._

_Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter._

_**Disclaimer/Author's Note:** don't own anything you recognize._


	4. Chapter 3 Devil of a Deal

**Chapter Three **

**Devil of a Deal **

The nightingale on the windowsill watched with amusement as the FBI agent hit the ground and the little mermaid began screaming, though the very act must have made her brain begin hemorrhaging. The witch-with-wings watched as the girl screamed and scrambled out of bed, only to fall to the ground as the feeling of being stabbed by a thousand knives overwhelmed her.

She screamed and reached for Reid as her head began pounding, and the witch grinned inside the body of the nightingale as a silver thorn full of sleep hit Ariel in the neck, just where it had hit Reid, and sucked her down into oblivion.

_Oh, dear, things are not as they would appear, are they, humans?_ The witch whispered on the wind, and suddenly Special Agent Hotchner's eyes found the tiny bird on the windowsill, and the witch's heart began to pound.

_What are you?_

At the thought whispering on the astral winds, the nightingale flew away, wondering just who that was, to have seen her.

**oo8oo8oo8oo **

Reid awoke lying on a hospital gurney with an IV attached to the inside of his elbow and a pounding head. He looked around, and tried to sit up, found himself strapped to the gurney.

"What the-"

"That's what happens when you pull your gun on a room full of unarmed doctors and nurses, man," Morgan said, leaning back in a chair several feet away from the young genius. "What got into you, man?"

"They were hurting her," he whispered, his voice cracking. He began to cough. "They were hurting her, she was screaming, they were scaring her, and-"

"You can't let her get to you, man. You've seen worse before, you been through worse. You gotta be cold when it comes to these kinds of things. You can't let your personal life get mixed up with your-" Morgan fell silent at Reid's frigid look, like the icy waters of the Northern Atlantic. He'd never seen the twenty-four-year-old look that way before.

"Shut up, Morgan. Can I get up now?"

"If you promise not to shoot anyone," he said, "then yes. We don't shoot civilians, remember?"

"I remember."

"Hotch has a deal for you," Morgan said as he unbuckled the straps holding Reid to the gurney. "We need someone to guard the witness. Hotch thinks whoever attacked her and killed the other women will come after her. Gideon thinks you might be too involved to be objective, and he wants you out of the field."

"I don't care," Reid snapped, and sat up as soon as the last strap was loosed. "I want to be the one to guard Ariel."

"And that's the deal. You stay out of the field and stay with the girl. Got it?"

"Fine."

"Reid-"

"I said fine, Morgan. Now where is she?"

**oo8oo8oo8oo**

In the words of JunoMagic:

**Please feel free to leave a comment!**

_Anything at all:_ If you noticed a typo, if you don't like a characterization or description, if you thought a line especially funny or poignant or interesting, if there was anything you particularly enjoyed … I am really interested in what my readers think about my writing.

You can leave a public comment (signed or anonymous), though if you want me to respond to it, signed is best, OR send me a private message, though I do prefer comments and reviews.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Disclaimer/Author's Note:** I don't own anything you recognize.


	5. Chapter 4 Safe Harbor

**Chapter Four**

**Safe Harbor**

Reid didn't know what had come over him, pulling his gun on helpless, unarmed civilians. He thought the tranquilizer dart was a little overkill, but he didn't excuse his own actions, either. But Ariel had sounded so frightened, he'd been sure, deep down, so very sure that they were doing something horrible to her.

Now it was time for him to get her out of the hospital and bring her to the safe house Hotchner had somehow managed to procure for them so quickly. He had no idea how he was supposed to get her out of this hellhole while all these nurses and doctors kept giving him sidelong glances, as if he were some madman everyone needed to keep an eye on, lest he snap and lash out in a berserk fury.

She'd been clinging to him since they'd let the sedatives wear off on her. Now she clutched his hand as he wheeled her to the check out desk. They'd allowed her a shower- she'd been desperate for one, though how Reid could've explained to anyone what it was she wanted when, after the surgery, she'd refused to speak a word to anyone. Now her hair clung to the back of her neck in wet, dark curls the color of rubies. Her sea green eyes touched upon everything in the hall wildly, her gaze darting about as if she were searching for an escape route. He rubbed the back of her hand soothingly.

"We're almost out of here," Reid murmured softly. "It'll be all right."

When they reached the desk, they found that Hotch had already signed Ariel out. When he reached out to shake her hand, she jerked away from him, her body thrumming with tension. The agent held up both hands to show he meant no harm, and backed up, his smile easy. Ariel glanced up at Reid, who wheeled her around Hotch without a word.

"Reid-"

The doors slid closed on whatever the BAU leader had been about to say, and Reid wheeled his charge out to his car. As they went, Ariel stared up into a sky the color of lead, blinking as a fat raindrop hit her on the tip of her nose.

"Come on, Ariel," he said as they got to his work-issued black Porsche. He lifted her ever so carefully out of the wheelchair, praying she didn't rip one of her stitches. He got her settled, a flame-haired, pale little shadow wrapped in silence, wearing a loose, royal blue skirt and a shimmer-green tunic shirt JJ had picked up for her at a thrift store for two bucks. She looked so fragile and forlorn in the shadows of the car.

"Come on, let's get you out of here," the young FBI agent murmured.

**Oo8oo8oo8oo8oO**

The stairs were tricky to manage, but they got her up to the second story apartment and got her situated on the sofa. After that feat, accompanied by much huffing and puffing, and Reid's grunts of effort as a lovely counterpoint, there was suddenly an incredibly awkward silence.

It was broken by Ariel suddenly scrambling off of the couch and crawling towards the small television. Turning up the volume, the small apartment was filled with the sound of Whitney Houston singing "Impossible," from the musical Cinderella.

As the music filled the air, Ariel collapsed on the soft, sand-colored shag carpet, relaxing completely for the very first time.

"The... the music?" Reid asked softly. "You like this music?"

Ariel nodded happily.

"Broadway, is that it?"

She shook her head, then turned and quickly changed the channel in rapid succession until she found something Reid realized, after a few minutes of staring, was supposed to be a live action Beauty and the Beast. Reid blinked.

"Fairy tales?"

She nodded and held up two fingers.

"Both Broadway and fairy tales?" She nodded vigorously. "Well, then..." Reid was going to make a trip to the video store and the library later. He had some stuff he needed to get for his new house guest.

**Oo8oo8oo8oo8oO**

Spencer came back from the book store, the music store, and the video store while Morgan had been up at the apartment guarding Ariel, and he came up the stairs with CDs, a DVD player, two books of fairytales, and the entire Faerie Tale Theatre and Cannon Movie DVD collections. He'd also been loaded down by JJ with the entire Ocean Girl series. For some reason, she'd said that Ariel had responded well to the series, it had made her feel better. He'd never seen the thing before, so he had no idea.

"Morgan, you wanna help me with these?" Spencer asked, and stopped in the doorway, mesmerized by the sight of Ariel curled up, asleep, on the rug, holding a stuffed dolphin.

"Where did she get that?" Reid mumbled as Morgan took one of the bags.

"Prentiss brought it for her. Said some little kid in the PICU left it in Ariel's bed when he got moved into surgery."

"Didn't he want it?"

"He didn't make it out of surgery. His mom said Ariel could have it, since she'd been nice to him while he was in PICU," Morgan said. "What the heck is all this?"

"Stuff so Ariel won't get bored, that's all," Reid replied softly, watching her sleep. She hugged that dolphin tight to her chest and shivered. After he set the bags down, Reid walked over and laid the blanket that was folded up on the couch over the sleeping young woman.

"Gettin' a little soft, aren't ya, Reid?"

"Shut up and get the hell out, Morgan," he snapped, and sank down on the couch, listening to the gentle sound of Ariel's breathing.

**oo8oo8oo8oo**

In the words of JunoMagic:

**Please feel free to leave a comment!**

_Anything at all:_ If you noticed a typo, if you don't like a characterization or description, if you thought a line especially funny or poignant or interesting, if there was anything you particularly enjoyed … I am really interested in what my readers think about my writing.

You can leave a public comment (signed or anonymous), though if you want me to respond to it, signed is best, OR send me a private message, though I do prefer comments and reviews.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Disclaimer/Author's Note:** I don't own anything you recognize. And NO, Ariel's is NOT a mermaid.


	6. Chapter 5 Walking in the Air

**Chapter Five**

**Walking In the Air**

.

.

Ariel was a restless sleeper, but she didn't wake. Reid watched her on the couch in the safehouse living room, curled up around that stuffed dolphin, tucked up under the dark blue, crochetted blanket. Her dark hair curled around her face, gleaming like spun garnets in the moonlight that filtered in through the curtains on the windows. Ever so softly from the television came the mingling voices of a group of women singing, "... riding in the midnight blue..." In the pale, silver light, her skin gleamed like blue pearl.

"Why won't you speak?" He whispered. "I know you want to tell me something. Who hurt you? Who tried to kill you? Did you know the women who have died? Were you just collateral damage? Ariel... why won't you speak?"

She made a small noise in her sleep, her brow furrowing slightly. Without thinking, Reid reached out a hand and smoothed the wrinkles upon her forehead away, leaving it smooth again. She seemed calmed by his touch. Why would that be? When he'd come back from the video store, the moment he'd walked in she'd relaxed, even in sleep. It was as if she subconsciously recognized him. As if he soothed her merely by his simple presence in the room. What could be the cause of that? Transference? Was she pulling him into the center of her hopes and her feelings of safety because he had rescued her from near certain death?

"Speh..."

He jumped. She'd spoken. Hadn't she? Or was it just a little nonsense syllable, mumbled in sleep the way babies babbled at their parents in attempted speech? Could it just have been a random reactionary noise, brought on by her dream?

"Ensss..."

She was speaking! But what was she trying to say? She was so nervous and timid when awake, he didn't dare try to awaken her just to see if he could get her to speak. Besides, she looked so utterly exhausted there, so worn and tired. Her face was thin, her entire body was thin. He could see the bones of her wrists jutting out like dull razorblades trying to split the skin and failing. How could he wake her?

"Sir..."

What was she saying? Speh... ens... sir. Spenensir... spensir... Spencer!

He blinked hurriedly. For some reason, his eyes were stinging. She'd whispered his name in her sleep. What did that mean? Probably that he was right about it being a simple case of transference. But still... she trusted him. She probably didn't trust anyone else in BAU, probably didn't trust anyone period, but she trusted him.

With the feelings of triumph and pride that came with that realization also came a feeling of exhaustion. He would've thought that, having been shot with a tranquilizer dart earlier that day, he'd be properly rested, but apparently being sedated didn't help you catch up on your sleep or make you feel very rested at... he glanced at the clock... four in the morning. Wow, the sun would be up in a few hours. He needed to get to sleep, and soon.

Pulling his gun holster off, he set it near him on the floor. He intended to sleep on the floor beside Ariel. There were unmarked cars around the building, and a couple in other apartments near here. They were relatively safe. But Reid didn't want to take any chances with Ariel's safety.

So, making a pillow out of a folded blanket and tucking himself under a pale blue blanket, he fell immediately asleep. The moment he did, Ariel's eyes snapped open.

Carefully, slowly, she reached out and touched Reid's hand. Then she settled her head back onto the couch and fell back asleep, reassured that Spencer was still there, still breathing, still beside her.

**Oo8oo8oo8oo8oo8oO**

Spencer Reid figured he had to be dreaming, because there was no way in real life this could happen.

He and Ariel were walking on air. He was holding tight to her, and the sky above them was dark, dark, dark, a beautiful midnight blue velvet over their heads. They also seemed to have shrunk, because the flowers whose petals brushed the bottoms of their feet were the size of houses, and the bees that buzzed around them, glowing like neon signs, were the size of motorcycles. But Reid wasn't afraid of being stung- Ariel was caressing the bees' soft, furred bodies, and they in turn were buzzing about her.

"Where are we?" He whispered. He looked up, and the moon hanging in the sky seemed further away than it ever had before. When Ariel pointed, he saw villages and rivers and hills, forests and streams, spreading out all before them like a great wave covering the earth. A swallow flew past them to settle next to a humongous rose the color of gold. "What is this place?"

"My great-great-grandmother sought this place for a long, long time. She spent a year looking for it, and had help from a lot of people.

"I was born here. I was told never to speak to toads or roaches. I was told never to marry for money. I was told never to go out riding on anything that didn't buzz. This is a very different place."

He really should have been surprised that Ariel spoke to him, but he couldn't find it in himself to be. Her voice was like wind chimes and the song of sea shells pressed to a child's ear. She sounded absolutely the way he had expected, like a bow being drawn across a violin and a nymph playing pipes in the forest.

"Why did you bring me here?" Reid asked softly.

"Because you are sad, and I like you. I trust you. So I thought you'd like to see it. Is there a place you'd like to show me?"

**Oo8oo8oo8oo8oo8oO**

When they flew, he wasn't sure if it was her dream or his, and neither was she. Down below them, children out past their bed times were staring up at them, mouths gaping open, unable to believe their eyes. And no wonder- for the longer they flew, the stranger everything seemed to Spencer. Because maybe it was just him, but it seemed as if his skin was absorbing the moonlight and reflecting it back, like the glow of a firefly in the night.

The crossed over the villages and forests, hills and streams. Things passed by as if in a dream- and surely this was a dream? Though perhaps the sweetest, most wonderful dream either had ever had? He never let go of her hand as they swam through the frozen sky, drifting over mountain peeks wearing glittering white caps of ice and snow.

When they came to the ocean, roaring and pounding the shore, they flew low over the water. Ariel's eyes lit up, and she touched her hand to the foaming sea, dragging it through the ivory reflection of the moon upon the water.

When luminous yellow eyes peered up at her from the water, Reid immediately took her arm and flew upwards with her, back to the shore. There, they sank down onto the white pearl sands and watched the waves rush in and flow back out. Well, at least Ariel was watching the sea. Reid was watching Ariel. She looked positively delighted at what she was seeing.

It was only now, as they were relaxing after their strange, Morpheic flight, that Reid paid attention to what they were wearing. He was wearing what he normally did- slacks, button down shirt, sweater vest. But Ariel was wearing something that looked like shredded silk and irridescent blue butterfly wings, green spidersilk and pale white rose petals. She was barefoot, but she carried a sword that came to a point so sharp it was like a needle. The moonbeams caught the edge, turning the blade to rippling water.

"Do you like the sea?" He asked hesitantly. Somewhere along the way, Ariel had acquired a crown of dew drops that glittered like diamonds. She looked like a queen.

"Yes."

"I'm glad," he said, touching her cheek. She tilted her face up, eyes like stars or crystal. Everything felt surreal, fantastic and far away. Except for the touch of his lips to hers. He tasted golden pollen, making her lips silky to the touch, and salt spray, and rain. He tasted fantasy, and make believe.

And then he woke up.

**Oo8oo8oo8oo8oo8oO**

He sat upright, glancing around, and realized he was still in the safe house, on the floor in front of where Ariel lay on the couch. She was still sleeping, but she looked more relaxed than he'd seen her yet.

As for he himself... his lips were tingling. He hadn't kissed anyone since Lila, the tv star he'd been protecting from a psycho stalker. And now, after a dream kiss that made his nerves fizz and his eyebrows twitch, his lips were all a-tingle. He glanced over at Ariel, and found himself wishing he could kiss her again, for real this time.

Instead, he went to check in on everyone who was supposed to be watching the house, and see if Morgan would bring by some breakfast.


	7. Chapter 6 Ten Things

**Ten Things**

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Okay guys. Here's what's going on.

**One**- I'm supposed to be getting married in 2 months (middle of December about) and I have things to plan. It's taking up a lot of my time. I apologize, but there it is.

**Two**- I'm desperately trying to get a job. After all, hubby can't support me and himself all by his lonesome.

**Three**- My comp is broken, so I only have computer access between5 and 11 in the morning. I can't get up at5 every day unless I go to bed at 8 or 9 the night before, and sometimes stuff comes up that prevents me from sleeping until midnight or later.

**Four**- I was out of town and unavailable on the comp for 5 days, the last day of which was this past Wednesday.

**Five**- I had inspiration for another fic in the few days beforeI went out of town, a House, MD/vampire fic called "_Suck_."

**Six**- I've been desperately struggling to get through _Eragon_ and _Eldest_ by Christopher Paolini because his 3rd book, _Brisingr_, just came out and I only have 2 weeks to read the thing.

**Seven- **I've been getting ready for Halloween.

**Eight-** I've been watchinga lot of TV: House, MD; the Mentalist;Criminal Minds; Law & Order: Criminal Intent; CSI: Las Vegas; NCIS; and Young Dracula, cutest vampire show for preteens ever.

**Nine- **I've been working on a romance novella for Harlequin-Silhouette's Nocturne Bites, and it's taken a while to get it finished. I finally got my last critique back from my Grandma on Tuesday (big romance and vampire fan). Now I just have to send it in to HS.

**Ten,**** _and most importantly_**- My grandfather died of cancer on Thursday, so I haven't really felt like writing much since then.

I'm sorry guys, but "_Demons of the Mind_" and "_Blood in the Water, Blood on the Ice_"are on hold for a while. Not too long- a week or so more, that's it. I apologize for the delay, and I hope to punch out the next chapter soon. Until then, bare with me.

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Loves to all my readers,

_LA Knight_

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**PS-** If any of you have a song idea in mind for the next chapter of "Blood..." I'd appreciate a suggestion. The last song I used was "Walking in the Air." Check out the Celtic Woman version here: www. youtube. com/ watch? v fl-iM8kpiuE. Remove the spaces.

**PPS**- Soon I'm putting together a Demons of the Mind playlist, under the name "NightmareDolly" on Youtube. Check it out on Nov. 1.


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